The invention relates to an apparatus for producing a tubular body which includes in its interior a separating wall which extends transverse to the longitudinal axis of the tubular body. The apparatus includes an injection mold having an opening which corresponds to the wall of the annular body and in which pins are arranged to form a narrow annular space in the opening.
Such a tubular body is used for example in the medical field in the administration of infusions. In this case, the body is disposed on a spigot shaped part of the outlet opening of an infusion container. The outlet opening of the infusion container is closed by a membrane-like separation wall. For the administration of the infusion, the opening of the tubular body facing away from the outlet opening is connected to a conduit which, at its front end, is so formed that it can penetrate the membrane-like separation wall whereby the closure of the infusion container is destroyed and the content of the infusion container flows through the tubular body into the infusion line.
Since the infusion container must be tightly closed by the tubular body, the membrane-like separation wall must be tightly connected to the wall of the tubular body. Furthermore, the membrane-like separation wall must be very thin so that it can be penetrated without great efforts. If the body would be produced in the known way by an injection molding tool, the membrane-like separation wall would not be thin enough to be penetrated in a simple manner. For a melt to flow into a gap of a molding tool in order to form such a membrane-like separation wall, this gap would have to have a width of one to two millimeter. However, a membrane with a thickness of one to two millimeters cannot be penetrated easily.
For the production of the bodies, the membrane-like separation wall is therefore manufactured in the known manner by injection molding stamping wherein the thickness of the separating wall is about 0.2 to 0.3 mm. The membrane is then installed in the interior of a small tube which is manufactured in a conventional way for example by a tube casting process and is connected to the tube by ultrasound welding. This however, is on one hand very expensive and, on the other hand, flaws may develop during the ultrasound welding whereby the membrane is not sealingly connected to the wall of the tubes.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for producing a tubular body with a thin separating wall, which can be easily pierced and which is sealingly disposed in the tubular body in a simple manner.